The present invention relates to a lighting panel particularly for flooring.
Illuminated flooring panels are sometimes used e.g. at exhibitions, where it is desired to illuminate an object being displayed from underneath. Because such panels are also required to support the weight of people and in some cases heavy objects, such as a motor vehicle displayed at a motor vehicle exhibition, the panels have to be strong as well as transmit light. Known panels are provided by very thick (e.g. around 30 cm) panels of glass mounted on a floor frame, with lights under the glass. The thickness of the glass is required to give sufficient strength, but the weight of the glass makes these panels very heavy to transport and assemble. Also the lights underneath make the light intensity non-uniform over each panel.
The invention seeks to provide a lighting panel such as a flooring panel which avoids the above disadvantages.
According to the present invention there is provided a lighting panel comprising a sheet of plastic material and a sheet of glass mounted on and supported by said sheet of plastics material and overlapping it on at least one edge.
Preferably the sheet of plastics material is supported in a base member. Preferably the base member includes a support structure to support the sheet of plastics material. The base member may be a rectangular frame, and the support structure may be struts extending generally diagonally across corners of the frame and may also be parallel to the edges of the frame. The corners of the frame may include adjustable feet to level the frame relative to a floor on which it is sitting. Alternatively the support structure may be sheets of wood, such as plywood, in the base member.
In one embodiment the sheet of glass overlaps the sheet of plastics material on at least one edge, said light source/s being provided under the overlap between the edge of the sheet of plastics material and the frame. Preferably a second transparent or translucent sheet of plastic material is provided between the first sheet and said glass to give additional support to the glass under the overlap.
The sheet of plastics material may be an acrylic sheet. The acrylic sheet may have an ink dot coating on its surface to emit light from the light source edge lighting the sheet. The acrylic sheet may be of the type sold under the Trade Mark Prismex sold by ICI. A reflective layer maybe provided under the sheet of plastics.
The surface of the glass may be treated to provide a non-slip surface and/or to diffuse light. The surface of the glass maybe treated by shot blasting the surface.
The invention also extends to a floor produced by assembling two or more floor panels as defined above together.